Picking from Verge Collection - Have You Done It? What's Your Trophy Item?

spychiatrist on 20/02/2016 - 11:15

It's that time of the year from where I live where people put out their stuff (broken appliances, old toys, dirty sofas, beds with pee stains, etc.) on the verge to be collected by the council. I see some people stop on their way and have a peek if there are any items worth picking up for themselves.

I've done a couple of picks years ago - two CRT TV's - but will never do it again, as the 27" CRT TV almost broke my back, only to find out it doesn't work. And both TV's got ditched the same day. My best pick is a miniature wheelbarrow I use as a pot holder at the backyard.

Once, I saw an old lady, nicely dressed, on a fairly newish Civic stop on the side of the road to look at on some verge items. Wow! This lady must be doing it hard.

Share your tips as well. No pun intended.

Poll Options

  • 120
    Yes! Recycling is best!
  • 18
    No way! Too proud to be seen picking!
  • 5
    I would, but it's illegal
Home & Garden

Comments

      • [Deactivated] on 22/02/2016 - 23:33

        because ikea items get resold? or because it's cardboard masquerading as furniture which doesn't hold up for any length of time outdoors?

        • Gravy on 23/02/2016 - 01:05

          perhaps because of their low priced furniture meaning lower income earners don't need to get stuff from roadside… but I disagree.

  • [Deactivated] on 23/02/2016 - 01:35
    +1

    Almost anything. Just got a 13ft camaflague green double kayak, and some building materials.

    Was it Descarte who said: I scab therefore I have a big savings account. No it was me.

    Basically it's recycling.

  • Dr Techno on 23/02/2016 - 14:06

    5x Commodore Amiga 500's!

    That was a day made of legends!

    -Amiga Enthusiast

    • devnull73 on 23/02/2016 - 15:15

      That was probably my brother's house. We threw out so much commodore gear. I simply didnt have room for it, cos I already had piles myself.

      Guys were coming past and taking the 1541 drives for the stepper motors. Threw out about 5 external amiga drives, before realising later that I need one for my 1200, and didnt have any :(

      He moved from Perth to Melbourne. So if you grabbed the 500s from Greenwood WA, it was probably us :)

      Good thing was I took his nonworking 1200, which later proved to have an 030/50 accelerator with scsi and a busted ram slot. Some soldering later, and the inclusion of an indivision, and it's sitting next to my 128 and 64 on the desk :)

      • spychiatrist on 23/02/2016 - 17:25

        All the technomajig did not make any sense to me.

        • gringo on 23/02/2016 - 21:05

          Funny thing is the people who wait till the last moment to put things out - carefully protecting it from the rain etc. Then it gets crushed in the back of a truck the next day.

      • Dr Techno on 24/02/2016 - 13:24

        Whaooa I have a upgraded A1200 as well :)

        Amibay regular ?
        Brother moved to 3170 by any chance ?

  • whoopdeedoo on 23/02/2016 - 14:34
    +2

    Saw my neighbour in the midst of throwing out her sons pristine bench press. quickly swooped on that along with 100kg worth of his weights. just as well i drove by when i did since my street gets a few vultures every 10-15 minutes scouting for goods.

    my best score was after a walking home from a night out, i spotted a man throwing out a scooter, which was perfect for me because the remaining path home was all downhill.

    • paaj on 23/02/2016 - 17:49
      +1

      haha that is awesome timing! made me laugh (at work)

    • peterpeterpumpkin on 25/02/2016 - 07:50

      Lucky it was your neighbour's weights. Carrying abandoned weights home from a kilometre away was hard and somewhat embarrassing.

  • [Deactivated] on 23/02/2016 - 14:50

    About $500 worth of stuff (t-ball uniforms, christmas presents, etc).

    http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/perth-verge-collector-mist…

    • bargaino on 24/02/2016 - 00:33

      That was the council truck, not scavengers!

  • TScott on 23/02/2016 - 15:16
    +1

    Someone was moving out, threw out some large items, and threw out a working Dyson dc44 animal vacuum with its box, warranty and everything. I happened to be curious after the weekend food shopping trip and stopped for a visit. I could not believe my eyes. I grabbed all of the parts, shoved them all into the half-broken box and carried it back to the car. I also found a few working Cuckoo pressure rice cookers, not at the same time or the same place as the Dyson dc44 though.

    Tip: follow your gut feeling, and weekends seem to be the best time to be curious.

  • stealthpaw on 23/02/2016 - 15:39
    +1

    I found my Breville Professional BES820 Coffee Maker from the verge, it had a bit of water damage and needed to have a few parts replaced but otherwise it was like brand new. Called up Breville support, found the device serial and it was still under warranty. Managed to get all the damaged parts replaced for free.

  • Aceboy884 on 23/02/2016 - 20:53
    +3

    Will never forget when we first arrived in Sydney (as a immigrant) we were so thrilled to find "free" furniture on the side of the road. Pretty much every piece in the house was off the street…

    Those days…

    Poor little family

  • gringo on 23/02/2016 - 21:01

    I think it's awesome and the best form of recycling.

    That said - a couple of notes:

    1) Taking things from hard rubbish is technically illegal "theft by finding". People buy the rights to scavenge - so they might be the people who crack the shits with you.

    2) There are some real psycho home owners out there when they see you rummaging through the stuff. Not many but be careful.

    3) It's always been hard rubbish collection to me - never heard it called verge collection before?

  • Azn310 on 24/02/2016 - 00:37
    +1

    I got myself a working laserjet printer. Ink lasted a year, I then ordered an aftermarket cartridge from ebay for 20 bucks, lasted until now. So its been with me for 3 years and counting. Surely beats printing at uni or library. Only drawback is its black and white, but the laser cartridge just keep on going.

  • Zachary on 24/02/2016 - 01:56
    +1

    Oh it's illegal to takes stuff from the verge collection? Didn't know that… But whatever, I used to do this and hoard stuff I find interesting and or might find a use for it later on. I stopped when my shed was full of "I think I might make use of this later" kind of stuff, but, like most us, we never do, and it builds up and eventually your house/land becomes a junkyard(like that one guy on TV news who kept collecting verge stuff)!

    Shed's now almost clean of all my "stuff I think I might use later" by putting them back on the verge(my last couple or so verge collection) and or at least making some use of them for DIY projects or whatever.

  • blint000 on 24/02/2016 - 12:22
    +1

    A couple of years ago I was travelling through a nice hills suburb and came across a Smeg dishwasher. It had a sign on it saying it worked and looked in good condition. Seemed consistent with the neighborhood so I pulled over. I had my dad's ute for other purposes so I was in the right place at the right time. I loaded up and that thing was heavy and I injured my back lifting it. Anyway I scored a nice dishwasher but spend over $200 in chiropractor fees getting my back right again. One day I will get round to installing it. I hope it actually does work.

    TL;DR - Free Smeg Dishwasher turned into $200 in Chiropractor fees after I put my back out.

  • [Deactivated] on 24/02/2016 - 14:00
    +3

    I was watching my neighbour put all sorts of good stuff on the verge last week. On the pile was; a desktop computer, screen, tv, couch etc.
    So, when her back was turned, I grabbed her.

    • silverrat23 on 24/02/2016 - 15:09
      +8

      So, when her back was turned, I grabbed her.

      Ummm… Am I reading this right?

      • scrimshaw on 24/02/2016 - 23:30
        +1

        Sounds a bit rapey…

      • GameChanger on 25/02/2016 - 00:53
        +1

        You're reading it right :)

  • fryandlaurie on 24/02/2016 - 14:27

    Uhh I once found a defibrillator. I didn't plug it in but it was in great condition. The pads wee clean and it had an inbuilt ECG too I think. I gave it to a friend of mine to display as decoration as he is a nurse.

    • Providence on 24/02/2016 - 22:32
      +4

      The pads wee clean and it had an inbuilt ECG…

      That's not the best way to clean a medical device.

  • Borg on 25/02/2016 - 00:20
    +3

    A Dyson AM04 Hot/Cool fan less the remote. Surprised it worked but did. Checked the serial on Dyson site only to find there was a recall on the model. They replaced it with a brand new AMO5 with fresh warranty. Sold it for $480. A nice find while out for a casual walk. Its amazing what people chuck out that work very well.

  • GameChanger on 25/02/2016 - 00:54

    I noticed the most affluent suburbs have the least valuable stuff on the verge.

    Lots of tightarses/people proud to dump stuff on their lawn.

  • BradH13 on 25/02/2016 - 09:48

    When I got a house with my mates, we needed a fridge so we went searching the streets. Took us about an hour a bit of looking, but we found one - put it in the ute, took it home and hoped for the best. It looked like crap, but it's still running super cold today, and that was 2 and a half years ago.

    • altomic on 06/03/2016 - 17:40
      +1

      Similar story. 20 years ago I had just moved in with some mates into a new shared house. There was a skip up the road. 2 blokes walked past us on the way to the skip carrying some parts of a modular couch suite. We asked him if he was dumping them and he said yes. Asked if we could have them and he said yes. Picked up an entire clean & in good condition modular couch with out leaving the house!

  • saitken on 25/02/2016 - 21:35

    We've picked 2 reclining chairs which now live on the front porch (so now we look the part)

    By far the best thing I found was a Webber. Proper brand with the older style wodden handles, family size. Quick spray with the pressure hose and a new grill and was as good as new. Those things last forever if you look after them right

  • jlogic on 28/02/2016 - 17:01

    Picked up kids outdoor toys. Cleaned and work as intended saves me the $$$.

    Best thing I did was to scavenge a computer of mine and leave it out. Everyone had a look inside but didn't take anything. I lol because they would be frustrated because I changed the screws to screws with a torx head on them. Would watch them rummage to find the right screwdriver or come back later only to find a motherboard inside with a PCI wifi card.

    Also had a guy knock on my door to ask if I still had the remote to the TV. Said I did not and he goes to me and says well thats junk then -_-

    Fun days verge collecting.

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